Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun - UNESCO ...

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who upgraded Sweden’s copper-making to industrial status by the standards of the time. The monarchy also had hand in this. The mining language, people’s names and title deeds from the early years of the 14th century testify to these things. Copper was a fairly uncommon metal during the Middle Ages and was produced in relatively few places in Europe, strictly speaking only in the Hartz and in Hungary. Swedish copper was much in demand from very early times. Lübeck, North German merchants and miner-yeomen did a great deal to make quickly turn into one of Sweden’s most money-spinning enterprises. German and Swedish mining operations became increasingly similar during the 14th century. This is partly due to the influence of immigrant German workers. There were similarities, for example, with regard to firesetting, hoisting devices, drainage and working implements. The 15th century was full of armed conflicts in which the miner-yeomen of the Great Copper Mountain took part, due above all to discontent over trade blockades and impositions of every kind. The influence exerted by the copper mine on political developments in late medieval Sweden is unique. During the first half of the 16th century the Great Copper Mountain was at the centre of civil strife, culminating in the so-called Bell Rising of 1531-34. Several eminent magnates in Kopperbergslagen were executed on the orders of King Gustav Vasa. During the 16th century the early hoisting devices were superseded by more modern and efficient arrangements on continental lines. A series-connected pumping installation and a water-powered winch were introduced at mid-century. The actual mining technique came to be regarded as the most advanced of its age. The heyday of the Great Copper Mountain during the 17th century coincides with what is commonly termed Sweden’s “Age of Greatness”. In the mid-17th century, the Great Copper Mountain was producing 70% of all the world’s copper. Spain switched for a time from a silver to a copper standard for its coinage. Copper exports increased. Copper played a vital part in financing Sweden’s involvement in the Thirty Years’ War then raging on the continent. All through the century, copper production was of great economic importance to Sweden. At this time only Japan could rival Sweden in terms of copper output, but Japan was a long way away and was no serious rival in the European market. During the 17th and 18th centuries, migration from abroad broke all records. At the same time, Swedes travelled abroad to study. As a result, Sweden developed from a relatively isolated country into a society in close touch with the rest of Europe. Production and exports of copper showed a disturbing decline during the 18th century. Iron became progressively more important. Even so, the Great Copper Mountain remained Sweden’s biggest industrial workplace. Technology continued to develop on continental lines. Benching and blasting were introduced. Swedish mining and metallurgy and mine engineering set a pattern for other countries. Sweden now became an active influence and not, as previously, mainly a recipient of continental methods. 19
Heritage conservation The Great Copper Mountain has an outstandingly rich and unique industrial history with excellent documentation, collections, archives, museums and visitor activities. The Falun Mine is a heritage site, as are a number of important buildings in the town of Falun and in Kopparbergslagen. Parts of Kopparbergslagen are protected environments, listed as places of national interest by the Swedish Heritage Management Authority (see 4 f). For a long time now, Stora Kopparbergs Bergslag has preserved its many industrial monuments and created enduring heritage sites all over Central Sweden. Notable environments in the region include the Svartnäs Mines, Åg Furnace, Korså Bruk and Norn Bruk. A remarkable collection of portraits of mine-inspectors and other officials at the mine, and of reigning Swedish monarchs, was inaugurated as early as 1658. This art collection is displayed in Bergslagssalongen (“The Bergslagen Drawing Room”) at the head office in Falun. A special museum was set up at the mine in 1922. This contains exhibitions and models, old artefacts, pictures and written records to perpetuate the history, environment and development of the Great Copper Mountain. A special collection of coins illustrates the history of copper coinage. Part of the site has been operated since 1970 as a visitors’ mine, where visitors can study shafts, galleries and rock caverns, as well as working environments and equipment from earlier periods in the mine’s history. The Great Copper Mountain is abundantly documented in written records, maps, literature, art, photographs and films. The archives of Stora Kopparbergs Bergslag are among the finest in Sweden and are admirably complemented by the mine museum. The oldest painting of the Great Copper Mountain, done in the 1690s, is now in Hessische Museum in Kassel, Germany. The mine and its activities have been depicted by many of Sweden’s foremost artists from the end of the 17th century onwards, including Eric Dahlbergh, Pehr Hilleström, the brothers J.F. and C.F. Martin, Wilhelm le Moine and Albert Blombergsson. Local artists, such as graphic artists Axel Fridell, Hans Norsbo, Stig Borglind, David Tägtström, Bertil Bull Hedlund and Helge Zandén, as well as the contemporary artist, Professor K.G. Nilsson, have produced beautiful depictions of the mining landscape and the town of Falun. It is nothing short of remarkable that a whole group of artists of great national importance, Falugrafikerna, should have originated from the grim and inhospitable mining landscape surrounding the Falun Copper Mine. c. Form and date of most recent records of property In 1973 the Dalarnas Museum, acting on behalf of Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags AB, compiled a complete inventory of the company’s industrial monuments in the county, including buildings and environments at the Great Copper Mountain and in 20
Page 1 and 2: WHC Nomination Documentation File N
Page 3 and 4: Contents 1. Identification of the P
Page 5: e. Map showing boundary of the area
Page 13 and 14: archives, museums and visitor activ
Page 15 and 16: c. Authenticity/Integrity Mining an
Page 17 and 18: Eric Geisler and Notary Carl Halldi
Page 19 and 20: 71. Office. 72. The Paint Factory -
Page 21 and 22: Landskansliet (1769), Munktellska H
Page 23 and 24: Copper from Falun was exported all
Page 25: paint for wooden buildings which ha
Page 29 and 30: d. Present state of conservation Th
Page 31 and 32: which still have a viable function
Page 33 and 34: Once a building has been listed the
Page 35 and 36: importance, the requirement is stri
Page 37 and 38: Binding regulations of land use and
Page 39 and 40: f. Agreed plans related to property
Page 41 and 42: established by the Municipality, fu
Page 43 and 44: j. Property management plan and sta
Page 45 and 46: 5. Factors Affecting the Property a
Page 47 and 48: 6. Monitoring a. Key indicators for
Page 49 and 50: Printed sources and secondary works
Page 51 and 52: —, The inception of copper mining
Page 53 and 54: —, Bergslagens hyttspråk. Uppsal
Page 55 and 56: Much, M., Die Kupferzeit in Europa
Page 57 and 58: —, Sveriges äldsta bergverks fö
Page 59 and 60: B Central Archives, documents from
Page 62 and 63: Appendix 2 Project Plan for the fut
Page 64 and 65: Museums The mineryeoman landscape S
Page 66 and 67: Illustrations: Appendix 3 The visio
Page 68 and 69: uilt up in the 1400 th century and
Page 70 and 71: Photographs from the Great Copper M
Page 72 and 73: 83 The New Crown dike (A 3). 84 The
Page 74 and 75: famous artist Carl Larsson, who liv
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Falun (Sweden) No 1027 Identificati
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Staberg is particularly noteworthy
Page 227 and 228:
ICOMOS Recommendation That this pro
Page 229 and 230:
des canaux sont construits pour app
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En vertu du code de protection de l
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